Strangers Show Up to Honor Forgotten Veteran in Texas

The community in El Paso, Texas gathered together on Friday, April 11 for the funeral of Specialist William Martucci, a U.S. Army veteran. Was his funeral full of family and dear friends who knew him all his life? No, he was laid to rest without known family- but he certainly wasn't alone.

The unaccompanied burial took place at Fort Bliss National Cemetery with full military honors and strong public support thanks to the people of El Paso. The funeral was at risk of being empty, but with the swift action of El Paso's very own TMZ, FitFam, who sent out an alert through Instagram that Martucci's funeral would be unattended, many stepped up.

The post received over one-thousand likes with comments like:

I’m sure El Pasoans will do their thing and show up for this veteran. God rest rest your soul, Soldier.

And show up they did! El Pasoans ensured that Martucci wouldn't be alone in his burial and celebrated the life he lived- even without anyone actually knowing who he was!

If you are from El Paso, or recently moved here, you know that our community is strong and always willing to support one another, especially those in the military.

Another unaccompanied veteran, Private Sergio David Lujan, is scheduled to be laid to rest on Wednesday, April 16, at 9:30 a.m., also at Fort Bliss. The public, and military community are encouraged to attend to ensure PV1 Lujan is not buried alone.

You can learn about future unaccompanied veteran burials on the El Paso County Veteran Services Office Facebook page or email ahunt@epcounty.com for more information- and I'm sure El Paso will do what it does best!